Are You a Lion Chaser?

We recently returned from a trip to South Asia where I met the most humble and courageous Christians, who face tremendous persecution.

Picture this: you wake up in the morning, have your devotion time and then tell your family goodbye. You leave the house with your Bible in hand, prepared for a divine appointment Christ has arranged for you. You begin walking toward a village to share the love of Christ, but this is no ordinary village. It is the village of militant Hindus whose goal is to eradicate Christianity in their country.

You are walking into the “Lion’s Den.”

I would like to share their story in the context of “Lion Chasers” a term described in one of my favorite books by Mark Batterson. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day refers to a verse in 2 Samuel 23 describing David’s “Mighty Warriors.” In verse 20, Samuel introduces Benaiah who went into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

2 Samuel 23:20: Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

Are you a Lion Chaser?

These Christians have insane courage in their passion for sharing their faith and proclaiming the name Jesus Christ to the suffering. They are at the tip of the spear of Christianity who seize the opportunities Christ arranges and they jump into the pit of persecution and bravely share the love of Christ.

They taught me that the choices we make every day define who we are. How courageous are you in your home , work place, school or community? Do you turn and walk away or do you boldly share your faith with love?

One of the women we had trained previously said she had the armor of God with the sword of the gospel in one hand and the blood pressure cuff in the other. She courageously entered a Hindu village and in a period of days took 200 blood pressures diagnosing many cases of hypertension that were ultimately treated with medicine. One example in particular was a mother who developed elevated blood pressure at the end of her pregnancy (pre-eclampsia) and would have died without immediate delivery. Our student convinced her to go to the hospital where she had an emergency C-section and saved the baby and the mother. The village was so grateful for her love and compassion that she was allowed to freely share the gospel with the village.

When you are confronted with the choice to face the lion in the pit of persecution, isolation or suffering for your faith, do you jump in? Or do you make the safe decision and walk away or remain silent?

When I asked a young student at our Teach To Transform training how she would use the medical education, she said her goal was to seek out those who were thirsty, hungry, homeless and sick and to show compassion with the love of Christ without fear. They believe that there should be NO silent Christians, for those who do not boldly confess their faith are disrespecting the message Christ has given us.

Why these students?

Last year, our partner East West Ministries, which focuses on church planting and sharing the gospel to the unreached, piloted our training with seven of their leaders who in just six months with the skill of health screening preached the good news to almost four thousand people. They were amazed at the progress, and we are excited that we just trained 100 more of these fearless warriors of God with Vital Signs, Health and Hygiene, Burn and Wound Care and Care of the Newborn. They came from all over their country, some traveling days to get to our training that will equip them with essential medical skills to be used to open the door to evangelizing.

Are you a Lion Chaser?

Time and time again with tears in their eyes they shared stories of extortion, intimidation, harassment and beatings. They had been locked in rooms with no water or food for days, and militant Hindus proclaimed that Christianity would be eradicated, but still, they were relentless in their mandate to share Christ.

One of the leaders has led a discipleship movement resulting in over 2700 churches planted, and has also started a women’s ministry to empower women. Only two days after our training she has sent pictures of providing medical care and witnessing in villages. Assuring us that the gospel moves forward expanding the kingdom of heaven even after we leave.

Do we have courage when Christ gives us a divine appointment? Will we jump into the pit with the lion knowing that Christ will provide us with the words to speak armed with the armor of God?

Please help Teach To Transform support the training expenses of these courageous “Lion Chasers” in the most difficult places around the world so we can equip them with skills to show love and compassion opening doors in the face of persecution to share the love of Christ.